BLUE HORIZON TRAINING

LEADERSHIP CHARACTER TRAITS

OVERVIEW AND DEFINITIONS

An introduction into crucial

leadership character traits

This is no easy job!

First of all, congratulations for wanting to become your best possible self as a leader!

Chances are, you are reading this document in the context of the Blue Horizon Training Leadership
Self-Assessment. Perhaps you have been wondering about some of the character traits that are part of
the assessment, so we have put together this small compendium to give you a brief introduction into
each of the character traits of a great leader.

We hope this provides you with some inspiration to learn more.

www.buehorizontraining.ro

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 1. Courage
Courageous leaders are people who are
able to push through uncomfortable
situations. They are willing to make difficult
decisions and do not back down when
things get too hard.
Contrary to popular belief, courage is a
teachable and learnable skill, and most
everyone has the capacity to be
courageous. Moreover, nearly all
courageous acts represent one or more of
three types of courage:
● TRY Courage: The courage of
initiative and action— making first
attempts, pursuing pioneering
efforts and stepping up to the plate.
● TRUST Courage: The courage of
confidence in others— letting go of
the need to control situations or
outcomes, having faith in people and
being open to direction and change.
● SPEAK UP Courage: The courage of
voice— raising difficult issues,
providing tough feedback and
sharing unpopular opinions.
The good news is everyone has the capacity
for being courageous.
2. Humility
Humility is broadly defined as:
● self-awareness
● appreciating others’ strengths and
contribution
● openness to new ideas and
feedback regarding one’s
performance.
Leaders who are humble have a better grasp
on organizational needs and make better
informed decisions about task
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performance. They are also better able to
ask for help than their charismatic
counterparts. What’s more is that humble
leaders help to foster a culture of
development with their employees by
legitimizing learning and personal
development. Humility also encourages
cultures of openness, trust, and recognition,
which are important precursors to success.
Humility in leadership does not imply the
absence of ego or ambition. Rather, humble
leaders are better able to channel their
ambition back into the organization, rather
than use it for personal gain.
3. Integrity
Having  integrity is a positive character trait,
where you are regarded as being honest and
truthful in your actions. It is the opposite of
hypocrisy, where you may claim to have
certain values but then deceive other in your
actions.
Integrity in leaders refers to being honest,
trustworthy, and reliable. 
Leaders with integrity act in accordance
with their words (i.e. they practice what they
preach) and own up to their mistakes, as
opposed to hiding them, blaming their team,
or making excuses
Leaders who demonstrate integrity garner
trust among their colleagues. They aren't
afraid of the truth, and they stand up for
what they believe in. This, in turn, leads to
loyal customers, increased profits, and a
better world for all.
4. Empathy
An empathetic leader is one who has
genuine interest in his/her team members'
lives, the challenges they face, and their
overall feelings. This kind of leader makes
an effort to understand their situations and
what they are going through, in order to
offer support and help.
Empathy encourages  leaders to understand
the root cause behind poor performance.
Being empathetic allows  leaders to help
struggling employees improve and excel.  fosters a successful and healthy workplace
Empathy  allows  leaders  to build and
develop relationships with those they lead
By understanding and providing employees
with what they need to succeed, leaders can
build a sense of trust, thereby strengthening
the relationships they have with their
employees and consequently, the
relationships employees have with one
another, leading to greater collaboration and
improved productivity.
Empathy plays a critical role in one’s ability
to be a successful leader.
5. Accountability
Accountable leaders lay a path for teams to
follow and are defined by being held
answerable for accomplishing a goal or
assignment. Accountable doesn't mean
blaming people. It means that as leader,
you own what you need to do and what you
need to get other people to do.
Accountability eliminates the time and
effort you spend on distracting activities
and other unproductive behavior. When you
make people accountable for their actions,
you're effectively teaching them to value
their work. When done right, 
accountability can increase your team
members' skills and confidence.
 
The positive results of accountability are
increased feelings of competency,
increased employee commitment to the
work, more creativity and innovation, and
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higher employee morale and satisfaction
with the work.
6. Creativity
Creativity is one of the most important
characteristics of an effective leader and
environment. Creativity opens up
opportunities in problem-solving, achieving
goals, and inspiring teams to
be creative and find unlikely perspectives.
According to a survey of 1,500 chief
executives around the world, creativity is the
most sough-after trait in leaders today.
Traditionally, creativity was associated with
people in artistic professions such as
writers, painters or musicians. In today’s
VUCA environment, the need for creativity
has transitioned into the business world. It
is those “Out of the Box” ideas that help
differentiate organizations and therefore
organizations increasingly must rely on
creative thinking, in their effort to
distinguish themselves from competitors
7. Curiosity
Much like empathy and self-awareness, 
curiosity is a proven and useful 
leadership skill that is a struggle for many
to integrate into their leadership  approach. 
Curiosity is merely asking questions. You
use smart, strategic, thoughtful and
targeted questions to get information to use
how you see fit.
Questions open our minds, connect us to
each other, and bring about innovation.
Great leaders ask questions, because
great leaders are curious. They want to hear
other people's perspectives and consider
them before they make decisions that have
an impact. Curiosity is key for success – no
matter your leadership style.
Admitting you don't know everything can be
difficult. But the search for new paths--new
products, new revenue streams, new talent,
new efficient ways of building, creating, and
getting things done--is part of a leader's job.
8. Authenticity
Authentic leadership is a style of  to "risk aversion," or the inability to move
leadership  that emphasizes a leader's  forward with decisions. Another common
transparency, genuineness and honesty
within the workplace. With these
behaviors, authentic leaders can build
strong and honest relationships in which
the team members trust and follow
the leader.
Authentic leadership is an approach
to leadership that emphasizes building the
leader's legitimacy through honest
relationships with followers which value
their input and are built on an ethical
foundation. Generally, authentic leaders are
positive people with truthful self-concepts
who promote openness.
Ultimately, an authentic leader inspires
trust, loyalty, and confidence within their
workforce which drives optimal results,
mission success, and personal growth.
9. Decisiveness
Making decisions that are well-informed and
time-sensitive is a crucial part of being a
successful leader. Decisive leaders seek out
the appropriate information they need to
make good decisions. Decisiveness is the
ability to make clear-cut and timely
decisions with the appropriate amount of
information.
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Decisive leaders are those who seek out the
appropriate information that is necessary to
make a good decision and they
demonstrate an understanding of the
knowledge held by their colleagues, direct
reports and leaders. In the
workplace, decisiveness is key for
effectively executing plans and achieving
set goals
This inherent fear of making a mistake is
one of the most common reasons that lead
setback is that many leaders get caught up
in "analysis paralysis." This plays out in the
form of incessant information gathering:
statistics, surveys and the like that can
prolong the decision-making process.
Don't let "analysis paralysis" keep you from
making good decisions.
In the workplace, decisiveness is key for
effectively executing plans and achieving
set goals. Decisive leaders have the ability
to balance the costs of continuing to gather
information, deliberate and delay a decision
versus the costs of making poor choices.
They are aware of competing costs, and
they weigh them carefully, but most
importantly, a decisive leader makes
decisions that are clear and final.
10. Vulnerability
In the past, vulnerability was not considered
a valuable  leadership trait. Instead, it was
viewed as a liability.  Leaders  were
generally not encouraged to
embrace vulnerability, but businesses
acknowledged vulnerability as a leadership
trait and shift their mindsets in order to be
successful in this changing culture,
incorporating vulnerability.
 According to a Deloitte study,
Great leaders recognize the importance of highly inclusive leaders should demonstrate
bringing  vulnerability to work because it is the following six signature traits (six C’s)
the foundation for open and non-judgmental
communications.  Vulnerability  fuels the 1 Commitment
strongest relationships, and ultimately, 2 Courage
helps bring even more success to the 3 Cognizance of bias
organization. 4 Curiosity
5 Culturally intelligent
Being upfront and open with vulnerability is 6 Collaborative
an important leadership trait. Being able to
admit and share times of weakness, even in
a public setting, is a way for leaders to earn 12. Confidence
trust from those they lead. Showing
weakness and not hiding from imperfection Generally, when a leader  exhibits 
lets others know that you as a leader are confidence, it makes it easier to trust
human. that leader, and people want to work
with leaders they trust. When leaders 
Vulnerability is a power tool in an exhibit confidence, they typically feel
emotionally intelligent leader’s toolkit. positive about their ability to lead people
Courageous leaders leverage their and deal with daily challenges.
“woundedness” into genuine
connections, innovation and learning. They A lack of self-esteem and self-confidence is
embrace moments of vulnerability by very problematic for a leader. When these
acknowledging their current state, taking traits are lacking, doubts arise and
responsibility for their emotions and asking insecurities plague a leader’s activities. The
for help. leader tends to be confident that his beliefs,
plans, and actions are correct (hopefully
with good reason). This confidence is
11. Inclusivity important in that it enables the leader to
persist steadfastly in the right course even
Inclusive leadership means that leaders  when there are obstacles and doubts from
commit to ensuring all team members are: others.
treated equitably, feel a sense of belonging
and value, and have the resources and Self-confidence is necessary for leaders to
support they need to achieve their full take risks and accomplish high
potential. goals. Leaders who are self-confident tend
to deal immediately and directly with
Inclusive leadership is essential for making problems and conflicts, rather than
sure diverse thinking is respected, managed, procrastinating, ignoring, or passing
heard and applied. And inclusive problems to others
leaders who understand how different
thinkers react to change are uniquely
prepared to communicate and influence in a
way that gets everyone on board with new
ideas and new ways of doing things.

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 13. Resilience
Resilient leaders have the ability to sustain
their energy level under pressure, to cope
with disruptive changes and adapt. They
bounce back from setbacks. Resilience is a
crucial characteristic of high-
performing leaders. Leaders must cultivate
it in themselves in order to advance and
thrive.
Resilience is a crucial characteristic of high-
performing leaders. Leaders must cultivate
it in themselves in order to advance and
thrive. They also carry the responsibility for
helping to protect the energy of the people
in their teams. Leadership is sustainable
only if individuals and teams are able to
consistently recover high energy levels.  with this energy
Resilience is an essential element of the
human quality known as grit. Gritty
individuals work hard and persevere to
achieve their goals. They are unyielding in
the face of hardship. They are also
extremely focused and loyal in their
passions. They commit to their area of
interest for the long term–they are
marathoners as opposed to sprinters.
How well leaders cope with stress helps to
determine how resilient they are overall.
A resilient leader is a person who sees
failures as temporary setbacks they can
recover from quickly. They maintain a
positive attitude and a strong sense of
opportunity during periods of turbulence.
When faced with ambiguity, a resilient
leader finds ways to move forward and
avoids getting stuck. Many studies have
indicated the importance of resilience as
both an individual and leadership trait.
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14. Positivity / Optimism
Positive leaders foster feelings of support
and safety and have the greatest success
maintaining energy and member retention in
their organizations. Positive leaders often
have these qualities:
● kindness: they are patient with
others, and refrain from “venting” by
saying negative things about others
● effective in leading their projects and
teams to success, they can create a
culture of positivity leadership in
their co-workers
● capacity to identify individuals who
contribute positive energy to others
around them, and they enable these
people to infuse the organization
Positivity is a commitment to a consistent
positive attitude. It is ultimately better for
your mental health, and it will have a marked
influence on your team.
Leaders lead people. So by definition, no
leader is successful on their own. Their
achievement is contingent upon their
relationships. You can have all the
leadership skills in the world, but if you are
demanding and abrasive, you will have to
work twice as hard to get half as far. You
will have to pour much more energy into
convincing people to follow you.
Positive people are like magnets.
Good-natured, confident leaders are not
struggling to attract others to their vision.
Others are happy to be on their team
because they engender trust and
confidence. When you are positive, it is
easier to build a network of advocates and
champions.
 Your door is always open to staff. Although
15. Open Mindedness you are still in charge, you do not "lay down
the law." Instead, you make decisions based
When you have an open-minded on a careful consideration of your own
management style, you focus on ideas, as well as those of others. This is
empowering your employees by listening participative management -- in which
and responding to their ideas, issues, ways employees take a more active role in the
of thinking and approaches to their work. business.

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BLUE HORIZON TRAINING

LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS
OVERVIEW AND DEFINITIONS

An introductions into crucial

leadership behaviors

Twenty-four essential leadership behaviors!

In this section, we’ll have a closer look at the leadership behaviors every great leader has learned to
adopt over the course of their career.

We hope this provides you with some inspiration to learn more.

www.buehorizontraining.ro

8
 1. Cultural intelligence primary driver of these feelings of
engagement.
Cultural Intelligence is the capability to
relate and work effectively across cultures. So, relationships really matter. They are not
It's a skill that could be the key to an optional take it or leave it factor. They are
enabling leaders to do more than merely a fundamental enabler of you and your
avoid conflict and misunderstanding, but organization’s ability to attract, keep and get
become more successful the very best out of your people. Effective
despite cultural differences. leaders know that leadership is relationship,
and leaders and managers with poor or
90 percent of business leaders from almost toxic relationships with their teams will see
70 countries named Culturally Intelligent performance suffer.
leadership as the leading priority for the rest
of the century.
3. Self-reflection
Why? Because organizations are
increasingly operating across borders of all Self-reflection in leadership means carving
kinds and encountering people from diverse out time to review yourself as a leader and
backgrounds. Leaders with high Cultural is critical for your leadership development. It
Intelligence are consistently more effective involves examining your current level
personally and professionally. This is of skills, your strengths, weaknesses,
perhaps because they possess a behavioral patterns and how you seek to
fundamental awareness. It helps them to influence others.
tell whether a person’s behavior can be
explained by a cultural value, or simply by a Areas for self-reflection: self-reflection can
personal idiosyncrasy. and should take place all throughout your
leadership journey, and across all aspects of
your leadership role. Let’s break down those
2. Relationship building different areas of self-knowledge:
1. Personal ambitions, passions,
A leader may be able to provide shared intentions, goals
vision and supervision; 2. Individual and organizational values
however leaders must develop 3. Personality types
a relationship with the people they inspire to 4. Thinking styles
follow them. Successful leadership 5. Emotional Intelligence
relationship inspires people to become 6. Reflective learning – what to do and
more than they imagined they could be and how to do it
achieve more than they ever thought they
could.

When employees have high levels of

engagement this has a significant,
measurable and transformational impact on
organizational performance.
Research shows that it is the quality of the
relationship people feel they have with their
immediate leader or manager that is the

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 4. Organizational Intelligence
Organizational intelligence - as a leadership
behavior - includes developing an
understanding and a deep connection with
organizational structures, culture,
stakeholder relationships, knowledge assets
and strategic processes. Being able to
successfully navigate an organization
including it’s bureaucracy, processes and
org chart is a must-have enabler for any
leader to assert their influence in pursuance
of important goals and change initiatives.
Leaders who operate and think just within
their own departmental bubble have little
chance to make an impact
5. Give Recognition
As a leader, your recognition goes a long
way. Whether it's celebrating a milestone or
giving a simple thank you note, every
recognition has the power to impact
employee engagement and morale.
Recognition and Rewards (R&R) deserves a
place at the top of any leader's priority list.
How can you start becoming a recognition
champion? When employers think of R&R,
their mind immediately goes to monetary
recognition. While beneficial, that's far from
the only way to recognize employees.
Employee recognition provides additional
benefits as well: Forbes reports that over
80% of employees are more motivated when
they feel appreciated, 71% of highly
engaged employees work at organizations
where peers are recognized at least
monthly, and that engaged employees are
proven to be 31% more productive.
6. Lead by example
Leadership is a process in which an
individual influences the behavior and
attitudes of other people. Leading by
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example helps other people see what lies
ahead and act swiftly to counter any
challenges along the way. If a group is led
by a person with poor leadership skills, the
group will experience frequent conflicts as
each person wants to do things their way.
One of the responsibilities of a leader is to
inspire other people to do the best that they
can do for the benefit of the organization.
To achieve this, the leader must show them
the way by getting involved in the process –
leading by example. 
7. Cognizance of bias
Cognizance of bias means being aware of
your own behavior, how you land on others,
and the ability to self-regulate. A good
leader is aware and understands
personal biases that enables him/her to
make fair and merit-based decisions about
talent.
Highly inclusive leaders are mindful of
personal and organizational blind spots, and
self-regulate to help ensure “fair play.” The
leaders that are inclusive do a couple of
things:
● At the individual level, they are very
self-aware, and they act on that
self-awareness.
● They acknowledge that their
organizations, despite best
intentions, have unconscious bias,
and they put in place policies,
processes, and structures in order to
mitigate the unconscious bias that
exists.
Examples of subtle biases that can
negatively impact the way we see others
and the decisions we make
● Implicit stereotypes -occurs when
people judge others according to
unconscious stereotypes
 ● Similarity-attraction bias: the
tendency to more easily and deeply
connect with people who “look and
feel” like ourselves
● In-group favoritism: a tendency to
favor members of in-groups and
neglect members of out-groups
● Attribution error: occurs when the
wrong reason is used to explain
someone’s behavior; coupled with
in-group favoritism, this results in a
positive attribution for in-group
members and a negative attribution
for out-group members
● Confirmation bias: seeking or
interpreting information that is
partial to existing beliefs
● Groupthink: when the desire for
group harmony overrides rational
decision making
Biases are a leader’s Achilles’ heel,
potentially resulting in decisions that are
unfair and irrational. Inclusive leaders are
deeply aware that biases can narrow their
field of vision and prevent them from
making objective decisions.
8. Encourage Innovation
Innovation leadership is a philosophy and
technique that combines different
leadership styles to influence employees to
produce creative ideas, products, and
services. The key role in the practice of
innovation leadership is the innovation
leader.
Innovative leaders must be willing to grow
and move forward to enable innovation in
the organization. Accepting
forward-thinking employees and processes
aren’t enough to establish a baseline for
innovation, it requires leadership that has to
take a more active role.
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Organizational innovation always lies in
asking questions and listening to the
responses. Innovative leaders don’t need to
be the person who generates the idea
behind an innovation. They simply recognize
a great idea and envisages the path that
leads to that idea of becoming a reality.
9. Grant Trust
Companies that foster a trusting culture will
have an advantage in the war for talent:
Who would choose to stay in a stressful,
divisive atmosphere if offered a productive,
supportive one?
It is crucial, then, for managers to develop a
better understanding of trust and of how to
manage it.
Trust is granted, not earned.
Trust allows leaders, employees,
relationships, and organizations to flourish
and grow. It is fundamental to most
everything in life. Lack of trust can lead to
damaging relationships and a hostile
environment. It creates stress and lowers
energy. When there is a strong foundation of
trust in an organization, it can enhance and
improve the workplace environment through
collaboration, teamwork, and honest and
open communication.
As Albert Einstein so brilliantly stated, “The
most important decision we make is
whether we believe we live in a friendly or
hostile universe.”
 10. Knowledge sharing
Perceptions of leaders being supportive and
encouraging of knowledge exchange have a
positive impact on their followers. Such
types of leaders encourage their followers
to share their ideas with others, are open
to knowledge sharing in discussion
meetings, and motivate others to
collaborate by acting as role models
As a subject matter expert with scarce skills
or knowledge, you are certainly important.
Your colleagues come to you for
information and advice. When you transition
to your first manager role, there is a new
challenge associated with knowledge.
True leaders work with others to translate
their knowledge into initiatives that benefit
their organization. They show the way
through their actions and behavior
Knowledge sharing enables organizations to
develop skills and
competencies, increase value and sustain
their competitive
advantage. Knowledge embodies intangible
assets, routines and creative processes
that are difficult to imitate and as such is a
firm's most valuable resource.
The price of being good at what you do is
that your colleagues and your organization
will increasingly call upon you to help them
succeed.  When that time comes, you can
play it safe in your comfort zone as an
expert, or you can become a leader. By
making others more powerful you’ll be
demonstrating greatness.  ●
11. Flexible leader styles
Flexible leaders are those who can modify
their style or approach to leadership in
response to uncertain or unpredictable
circumstances. In addition, flexible
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leaders can adapt to changes as they come.
They can revise their plans to incorporate
new innovations and overcome challenges,
while still achieving their goals.
To enhance your flexible leadership skills,
be open to experiences and seek the
learning opportunities that each situation
presents. As you become more flexible,
you will become more effective. Remember
that becoming a flexible leader takes time
and patience.
There are several leadership styles which
lead to different results. We invite you to
explore some of the most used ones in
business.
Leadership styles can be grouped into eight
different categories, all built on a leader’s
imagination, creativity, strategies,
confidence, and personal boundaries. And,
the characteristics of being a dynamic and
effective leader are based on their individual
strengths, ambition, persistence, and
behavioral courage. Leaders have preferred
leadership styles, yet are able to move to a
different style based on the situation and
challenges. So, the selected style is driven
by acquired attributes and comfort, and by
the real world that the leader is operating
within, specific to their organization. 
● Pacesetting, Autocratic Style
● Democratic, Participative Style
● People-Focused, Affiliative Style
● Authoritative, Command and Control
Style
Excellence Focused, Coercive Style
● Innovative, Transformational Style
● Charismatic, Persuasive Influencer
Style
● Coaching, Development-Oriented
Style
 12. Articulate a vision
A vision is an end towards which leader can
spend and direct his energy and resources.
Leaders  share a dream and a path which
the employees want to share and follow.  opportunity to convey what works for them
Leadership vision is not restricted to
organizational written mission statement
and vision statement.
A visionary leader who clearly and
passionately communicates his or
her vision can motivate employees to act
with passion and purpose, thereby ensuring
that everyone is working toward a common
goal. The end result is that everyone
contributes to the organization's forward
momentum.
Leaders share a dream and a path which the
employees want to share and follow.
Leaders who lack vision cannot succeed in
life and they work in a standard and
monotonous manner.
13. Delegation
A delegating leadership style is a low task
and relationship behavior approach
to leadership where a leader empowers an
individual to exercise autonomy. Employing
this approach entails providing the
individual with the big picture, then trusting
them to deliver agreed-upon results.
A delegating leadership style is most
effective with a person that is both
confident and competent to perform. Even a
moderate level of input from the leader here
(e.g. offering suggestions) can be
off-putting and, as such, interpreted as a
lack of trust. This might result in regression
of both their task-related ability and
motivation.
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14. Giving Feedback
Encouraging feedback helps your team
members open up and voice their opinions
about your leadership. It gives them the
and what doesn't work, in terms of
your leadership
Feedback is critical when in
a leadership position because it enables
supervisors and managers to identify
potential conflict between employees or
conflict that leaders have with their
employees.
Constructive feedback in the workplace is
extremely important: workplaces need
effective communication to succeed and
thrive. As well as increasing staff morale,
feedback helps us learn more about
ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses,
our behaviors, and how our actions affect
others. It also increases our self-awareness
and encourages personal development.
Feedback doesn’t always have to be
positive. Negative feedback highlights areas
where we need to improve and helps make
our work much better in the long run.
However, it’s important that you give
feedback skillfully and productively,
otherwise it provides no basis for
development.
 15. Receiving Feedback
Great leaders are great learners. Their
never-ending pursuit of information pushes
them to constantly improve and sets them
apart from the rest. Feedback serves a
crucial role in this process, but getting and
learning from it isn’t always easy.
Receiving feedback, as a leader can be
challenging because you are more used to
giving feedback. Being in a power position
makes leaders feel uncomfortable when
they have to internalize feedback
themselves.
Where do you start from? Be receptive: be
willing to hear what the other person has to
say. Also, focus on being present rather than
preparing what you want to say: Give
yourself time to consider the feedback if
you find yourself taking it personally or feel
too emotionally charged in the moment.
16. Active Listening
When you speak, you repeat what you know.
When you listen, you learn something new.”
 – Dalai Lama -
What differentiates an average manager
from a great leader? The answer often
encompasses soft skills — such as active
listening — which facilitate a leader’s ability
to connect with employees.
Healthy communication between leaders
and team members establishes a
foundation for trust. When your team
members know that they will be heard, they
are more apt to openly share their ideas and
provide honest feedback. This, in turn,
drives employee engagement and positive
business outcomes including innovation,
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productivity and profitability. Knowing that
their leader cares about and appreciates
them makes each team member feel valued
as an individual, and is an important factor
in driving employee engagement.
17. Prioritization
Great leaders are highly focused, but they
also focus resolutely on the right things.
They're skilled at the art of triage; they
can prioritize many demands, and always
ensure they spend their limited time on
those issues that are central to the
enterprise's needs.
Evaluating and acting on priorities is
perhaps the most basic, essential task of
our workplace lives. It must ensure that
team members participate and learn from
this function—evaluating priorities provides
a coaching moment for the leader and his
reports.
Prioritization is a key skill that you need to
make the best use of your own efforts and
those of your team. Most
people prioritize what they need to do based
on each task's urgency and importance –
they focus on the most pressing, important
jobs first, and do the others once these are
complete.
Effective prioritization comes from
understanding the full scope of what you
need to get done—even the most mundane
tasks should be written down and
considered.
While leaders are often held accountable, as
they should be, for how they spend other
people’s money, leaders also spend other
people’s time. Every decision, every meeting,
every new direction requires time and
energy from the people leaders lead.
Leaders steward an incredible amount of
other people’s time and energy. When
leaders prioritize well, they serve the people
they lead well as their time and energy is
stewarded with wisdom. When leaders fail
to prioritize well, they waste other people’s
time, not merely their own.
take control of your life's direction; it also
provides you a benchmark for determining
whether you are actually succeeding.
20. Connect with purpose

18. Coaching & Mentoring Connecting to our purpose is what makes

us better leaders. It engages us with
The first difference between coaching and ourselves and with our colleagues and the
mentoring is in time scale; coaching tends greater community. When there is a shared
to be short-term while mentoring is a mission or something big that truly inspires
longer-term process. Coaching tends to others, it can be contagious.
focus on specific skills and is more
operational and task-oriented. By It energizes us to take risks to move beyond
contrast, mentoring tends to focus on our fears. Purpose calls us to grow, to be
relationship building and is more bigger, stronger, more resilient than we
development driven thought was possible. The ability to take
risks is a key attribute required of leaders.
As the objective of coaching is to guide
people to reach their own conclusions and They simply manage to bring people
find their own solutions, each team together for a common cause. It is the job
member will gradually build their of the organization and its leaders to
self-confidence to the point of provide the employees with meaning and in
independence. Your team will depend less this context purpose can be a driving force
on you, thus freeing up your time to deal to achieve the intended results.
with your other duties.

19. Goal setting

Setting goals help leaders stay focused on

what truly matters. Being a leader, setting
goals equals having a bigger picture, a
vision that he or she wants to get to. When
you set the SMART goals, you have a
bulls-eye that they know to focus and
prioritize, keeping your world in order.
For leadership goals to be effective, they
need to meet the standards set
by S.M.A.R.T. criteria, meaning they are
specific, measurable, attainable, relevant
and time-bound.

If you want to succeed, you need to set

goals. Without goals you lack focus and
direction. Goal setting not only allows you to

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 21. Engage Team
Engaging leaders step up, opting to
proactively own solutions where others
cannot or do not. They energize others,
keeping people focused on purpose and
vision with contagious positivity. They
connect and stabilize groups by listening,
staying calm, and unifying people.
Leaders need to let go and guide their
employees to mature within new and
expansive roles and responsibilities.
Employees want to feel valued and
challenged; they want to be trusted and
given the freedom to explore and learn
within the job.   Employees that stretch
themselves to grow and take on more
advanced assignments especially should be
given the opportunity to further accelerate
their advancement. The bottom line is that
leaders must continuously create new
opportunities for their employees – or their
workforce will not be innovative enough.
How else can you determine if an employee
is capable of performing and stepping-up
their game if you are not continuously
finding new ways to engage them? If you are
not engaging your employees to create
great teams, you are being irresponsible to
the organization and the people you serve. 
22. Strategic Thinking
When leaders are able to consider strategic
thinking, they gain an important skill. They
are able to work through unknown
situations, and gain abilities to reason, learn,
and make decisions that enable employees
to push forward in the face of setbacks.
Strategic thinking is a long term thought
process to achieve a successful team or
company. This means having the capacity
to anticipate, the discipline to prepare now,
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and the ability to position yourself to
compete and win in the future.
New leaders at any level must be able to
mobilize and focus resources and energy on
the priorities that will ensure future
business success. The problem that leaders
face in becoming more strategic is that
society, in general, is addicted to short-term
thinking.
Routine activities seduce leaders into a very
tactical state of mind. They worry about
managing to-do lists, reaching short-term
goals, and meeting today’s production
schedule. When they see sales numbers
drop, they react with a short-term, patch-up
solution. They put out the urgent fires and
fail to think long term. They simply overlook
opportunities to see their situation from a
strategic perspective. Too often, they focus
on making it through the current crisis,
managing today’s demands at the expense
of the future.
23. Taking responsibility
With subordinates, leaders manifest the
quality of responsible behavior through a
willingness to take charge and not shirk
from decisions. It means giving up being
“one of the group” and
instead, accepting the role of the leader. It
means having a results-based view of
the leader's role and a responsible
behaviour.
It is the mindset that says, “I am the person
who must make this happen.”
The responsible leader exhibits this
behavior in multiple directions. It influences
how the leader behaves with subordinates;
but is equally strong in the relationship with
an immediate boss and with other
departments in the organization. Finally, it
encompasses an overall set of values and
attitudes.
24. Collaboration
Collaborative leadership is a management
practice that aims to bring managers,
executives and staff out of silos to work
together. In collaborative workplaces,
information is shared organically and
everyone takes responsibility for the whole.
interpersonal relationships and cross
functional collaborations for organizational
success.
These individuals are able to facilitate
interactions between employees and
business partners of different levels and
have the patience to deal with very high
levels of frustration.

Collaborative leadership is a style practiced

by leaders who recognize the importance of

Blue Horizon Training is your leadership consulting,

coaching and training partner.
The company is based near Bucharest and we work
with our clients globally.

Our coaches, trainers and facilitators all have a

professional background as leaders, which
differentiates and enables us to connect with our
clients on eye level.

Contact us anytime!

Email: Our Leadership Readiness Self-Assessment Tool is

office@bluehorizontraining.ro used on many occasions, including our high-impact
Phone / Whatsapp: +40219724503 First-Time Manager Program, that you can read about
Web: www.bluehorizontraining.ro here.

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